Coda
|health = |weapon = |item = |unlocking = Complete All Characters Mode |music = Danny B }} Coda is a creature of unknown origin. Coda is unlocked by completing "All Chars" mode. Rules and Restrictions Coda starts with a Shovel, Dagger, Nazar Charm, and Bomb. Coda is a combination of Aria, Monk, and Bolt. She moves at double speed, instantly dies upon picking up gold or the Crown of Greed, dies upon missing a beat, cannot gain more heart containers, and cannot use any weapon other than a Dagger. When Coda is in play, enemies that drop 0 gold will drop 1 gold instead. This includes boss fights. These restrictions result in an extremely small item pool. Coda cannot normally find any Weapons, Blood Shovel, Leather Armor, Chainmail, Plate Armor, Heavy Plate, Obsidian Armor, Helmet, Crown of Thorns, Ballet Shoes, Hargreaves, Boots of Pain, Ring of Charisma, Ring of Courage, Ring of Gold, Ring of Shadows, Ring of Regeneration, Ring of Protection, Food, Blood Drum, Scroll of Enchant, Riches Scroll, Scroll of Need, Holster, Heart Containers, Protection Charm, Gluttony Charm, or Heal Spell. Coda also cannot access the Blood Shop or Food Shop. Shrines of Blood, Peace, Risk, and No Return do not spawn for her. All Red Bats and Black Bats are replaced with Blue Bats, though Green Bats are left unchanged. Zone 4 will not spawn Spiders, Ooze Golems, Green Monkeys, or Magic Monkeys. Destroying the sarcophagus in Zone 4 is not required. All shops have only two items. Coda may take one item for free. Upon completing a floor, all gold is auto-collected and added to Coda's score. Strategy Noteworthy differences from Aria, Bolt, and Monk individually * Most obviously, the speed of the game being doubled makes it far easier to miss a beat or otherwise make a mistake. * If Monk accidentally drops gold on the stairs without a bomb to clear it, he can still exit relatively safely via trapdoors or waiting for the song to end. Coda cannot do this and will be trapped (unless she gains a Potion). ** Similarly, if Monk is surrounded by gold on all sides then he can still wait for the song to end, but Coda cannot (without a Potion). * Coda does not start with Aria's Potion and thus begins with no protection at all against mistakes. * Coda does not start with (and cannot use) Monk's Blood Shovel to dig around gold or Bolt's Spear to make up for the increased speed, making gameplay even more difficult. Items Intel-granting items such as torches, the Monocle, and Circlet of Telepathy will help grant Coda much-needed time to formulate plans before engaging enemies. Shovel upgrades will prove extremely useful in the early game to circumvent troublesome gold piles. Items like the Glass Torch and Glass Jaw are exceptionally strong for Coda, as they provide very powerful benefits while their downsides are rendered inconsequential due to Coda's inherent fragility. Getting Lucky Charm early is recommended, as it makes otherwise deadly bats slightly less dangerous. Heart Transplant is a very strong find for Coda, generally best used to handle Death Metal. Ring of Phasing is by far the best available item for Coda, as it turns walls into a safe haven, allowing Coda to dance around inside them while she plans her next move. Freeze Spell, Fireball Spell, and Bombs are all very valuable, both for attacking from inside walls with Phasing, as well as for conquering most boss encounters. Combat Coda must approach every encounter extremely cautiously, as nearly every enemy has the capacity to instantly kill her. Enemies that can cause a missed beat instead of causing direct damage are particularly dangerous, as they will ignore damage-cancelling items such as the Glass Armor or Frost Charm. Monkeys and Tar Monsters do this upon hitting Coda, while Ghosts, Moles, and all types of Mimic can indirectly cause this if incorrectly attacked. Skeleton Mages can pull Coda onto gold, and should be fought away from stray gold piles. Bats are also exceptionally dangerous, as their random movement makes planned approaches difficult. Moving away from bats on the same beat they move will greatly assist in handling them. Keeping constant awareness on Coda's exact damage output and number of hits needed to kill enemies is essential. Overestimating the number of necessary hits will likely result in stepping on gold, while underestimating will probably result in taking damage (most likely meaning instant death). As Ring of Phasing is by far the most reliable way to complete playthroughs as Coda, learning how to manipulate enemies while phasing in and out of walls is essential. Minotaurs and Armadillos can very easily be lured to walls, as they will charge at the player if directly aligned with them at the edge of a wall. Bombs can be used to safely take out dangerous mini-bosses, though care must be taken not to kill them on the exit stairs. Ring of Phasing is no longer available normally but its effects can be replicated via Phasing Mode under the Extra Modes staircase. This effectively makes regular playthroughs significantly more difficult but also no longer luck-dependent on obtaining a single random item. Trivia * Coda refers to the concluding segment in a musical piece, reflecting her status as the game's final character. * Coda is also Italian for the word "tail", which is emphasized by her holding her dagger with her tail in her character portrait. * Coda's background is being kept secret by the developers, although NecroHeather mentioned during a developer Q&A that Coda is somehow related to the Dungeon Masterhttp://www.gog.com/forum/general/crypt_of_the_necrodancer_developer_qa_2c0e1/post74. * Not even the developer who programmed Coda into the game, Ryan Clark, has managed to beat the game with her. The character description being "Probably impossible" and the achievement name being "Impossible, Right?" are direct references to this.https://kotaku.com/crypt-of-the-necrodancer-speedrunner-makes-near-impossi-1784329931 References Category:Playable Character